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Lupus Headache v's Migraine

I was wondering if anyone could describe the difference between a lupus headache and a migraine (spelling?).

I keep getting this horrific headaches that can last for days at a time. The pain is all frontal.. in my forehead and behind my eyes. Light makes it worse and all I want to do is lie down and sleep.

I was on Atenolol (again.. haven't a clue how to spell that) but forgot to take it for a couple of days and when I tried to take it again, it was causing headaches rather than stopping them so had to come off that. I also have high blood pressure now to add to my list. Yay!

I had a lens replaced in my glasses so I know its not bad eyesight that's causing them. I was just wondering what the difference was between the two types of headaches before I go see my doctor again.

Thanks

Numpt
x

Numpty:- (num-p-tee) dialect, chiefly Scot, ~n. 1. a bumbling fool: one who is intellectually challenged. 2. widely known in Scotland as an MSP (Member of Scottish Parliament).

Migraine vs. Lupus Headache

Hi Numpty....

The headache you describe sounds exactly like the migraines I get. I don't get them too often, but even the occasional one is pretty miserable. I can always tell it's a migraine if it affects my eyes and all I want to do is get in a dark room and lay down. I also get visual migraines with the flashing lights around the edges of my vision.

For me, the Lupus headaches are not nearly as bad as a migraine. They seem to be like an all over headache that kind of lingers on, sometimes for a few days, and sometimes Tylenol or Advil helps a bit, sometimes not. But when it's a migraine, no over-the-counter meds seem to do a thing. Only time and a dark, quiet room.

Sorry to hear your blood pressure is up. I have had more migraines headaches when my blood pressure is in the higher range. My BP has been pretty well controlled for a few years now, so I haven't had nearly as many headaches of either kind.

So sorry to hear about your headache...sounds like it has teeth...I have never been able to tell if it was a migraine or a migraine caused by lupus...Alls I know is it hurts.
The only thing I am able to do it get in a dark room and I mean dark...I actually put a real thick towel on my eyes and force myself to relax. This is after taking a arthritis strength tylenol...
I hope that your headaches will stop in time...Could it be because of the weather? I am not sure what is going on in Scotland Cold doesn't give me a headache, but rainy weather does.
...Hugs friend...

I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.......Robert Frost

i get two different typs of headaches. The first is in the back of the head and is fibromyalgia related (it is in the trigger points) The second type i get is in my temples....feels like someone is jabbing an ice pick in my temples....both are so painful...i have to take meds and go to bed....i don't talk on phone, watch tv, no lights, no noise...yuk

hi

Yes i too suffer with the dreaded teeth gnawing headaches. Since Christmas they've been bad. I was put on new meds and they seem to wake them up.It felt like the front of my head was being crushed in a vice, like read to explode....a sharpe pain on the left of my head which started from my eye and then finished like a hot rod being poked into my eyeball....followed by like tunnel vision and slight blindness.I soon stopped the meds.Now its not as severe.Its like a pressure headache, you know like just before a thunderstorm, that kind of headache, but it still hurts.

Oh that dark room is so welcoming when you have a bad headache. I hope you have found ways to cope with them or have meds to help with them.

From what I understand, the primary difference between the two is that a Lupus headache does not respond to treatment prescribed for migraines. Lupus headaches usually will respond to treatment of the underlying disease itself (Lupus). But, as far as pain...light sensitivity...flashes....nausea..etc. - they pretty much feel the same.
Here are a few websites that might have a bit more information for you: